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Puma Biotech announced on Tuesday that a Phase III clinical trial of its experimental drug blocked the return of breast cancer in some women. Shares of the small development biotech firm more than tripled on Wednesday morning after the news -- and created a new billionaire in the process.

In a trial of 2,821 women with early stage HER2-positive breast cancer, the drug, neratinib, improved disease-free survival by 33 percent compared to the placebo. Based on the results, Puma intends to apply for regulatory approval in the first half of next year.

“We are very pleased with the results," Puma CEO Alan Auerbach said in a statement. "This represents the first trial with a HER2 targeted agent that has shown a statistically significant benefit in the extended adjuvant setting, which we believe provides a meaningful point of differentiation for neratinib in the treatment of HER2 positive breast cancer."

Auerbach had another reason to be happy: the astounding 280% stock jump made him an overnight billionaire. The former founder and CEO of similar Cougar Biotechnology, a firm that was bought out by in 2009, Auerbach founded Puma in 2010. As of the company's 2014 proxy report, he owns over 4 million shares outright and an additional nearly 2.3 million warrants and exercisable options.

At the current share price around $225, Auerbach's shares are worth over $1.3 billion.